In The News
The World Health Organization released another statement arguing against pushback it has received in adding “Gaming Disorder” to its list of 2018 addictions.
“‘There is increasing and well-documented evidence of clinical relevance of these conditions and increasing demand for treatment in different parts of the world,’” a WHO representative told GamesIndustry.biz’s James Batchelor.
:(. You’re breaking my heart, 343 Industries. IGN’s Joe Skrebeles writes that 343 hinted “that Halo 6 will not be arriving in 2018 – but there may be other releases that ‘surprise you.’”
Ya well, THEY BETTER.
EA filed two new patents. “EA’s first patent is for a system of dynamic difficulty adjustment,” PCGamesN’s Richard Scott-Jones reports. “The second patent … is designed to keep you engaged in multiplayer games by fiddling with their matchmaking algorithms.”
Glu Mobile sold “both its Moscow-based game development studio and numerous titles” being developed, Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports.
Sony announced it sold almost 6 million PlayStation 4s during the holidays. “This figure is down slightly from the company’s 2016 performance, when it sold 6.2 million units,” Polygon’s Colin Campbell writes. “PS4 has now cumulatively sold through more than 73.6 million units.”
The Holmes Report’s Jesse Steinberg has a breakdown of some of the biggest investments, celebrity entries and other notable moments for esports in 2017.
Three billion was invested in AR/VR in 2017, VentureBeat’s Tim Merel reports. “AR/VR investment records fell last year as startups raised over $3 billion in 28 categories we track including over $1.5 billion in Q4 2017.”
GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports that kicking 2018 off, XR Games, a VR developer, pulled in a “$2.6 million seed investment from Australian venture capital firm Global Merces.”
Natus Vincere CEO Yevhen Zolotarev broke down his organization’s successes and failures across multiple esport games in 2017 with Cybersport.ru. Here’s a snippet: “I won’t conceal that for me the human characteristics play a significant role when we look to recruit a player. If the initial selection is based off statistics, recommendations etc., then…”
Diversity is continuing to become more important to developers, VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb reports. Its importance ticked up 3% from 2016 to 2017.
“As more developers consider diversity as an important factor in hiring, the more of these game makers believe that publishers aren’t doing enough to facilitate diverse hiring practices … While diversity is an issue, job security is also weighing on the minds of developers.”
The National Association of Collegiate Esports is partnering with BeRecruited. “Our partnership with @beRecruited allows students from around the globe to scouted/recruited for collegiate esports,” the tweet reads.
CES news:
Linksys showed off a gamer-specific router. “The WRT32XB, which is the first (and only) device that’s specifically optimized for the demands of the Xbox One,” Engadget’s Swapna Krishna explains.
HTC debuted the Vive Pro. Its resolution is better and it has built-in headphones. “HTC also announced the Vive Wireless Adapter, which uses Intel’s WiGig wireless docking tech,” PC Gamer’s Tyler Wilde reports.
PC Gamer’s Jarred Walton reports Nvidia showcased some huge displays. Like, huge huge.